Palestine: Troops run over teen, 1,790 kidnapped/16 Killed in first half of 2013 & confiscation of lands/houses continues

A Palestinian teenager was knocked down and killed by an Israeli military jeep in a town in the southern West Bank.

Palestinian police and witnesses said that the youth 19-year-old Moataz Sharawna, died after being hit by the vehicle during overnight clashes between Palestinians and occupation troops in Dura which lies just southwest of the city of Hebron.

An Israel military spokeswoman confirmed an incident in the town, but claimed that initial reports suggested soldiers had fired at a youth who had “climbed onto a military vehicle.”

“Overnight there was an activity in Dura village near Hebron and a group of Palestinians began hurling rocks at the security forces who were in the area,” she told AFP.

Medics at Hebron’s Alia hospital confirmed to AFP that the victim had died after being run over.

Palestinian sources said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death, meaning the funeral would take place at 4:30pm (1330 GMT) in Dura.

Following the incident, shops and business were closed throughout the town as a sign of mourning, an AFP correspondent said.

The Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights have reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 1,790 Palestinians in the first six months of this year, including 300 who were kidnapped in June, and added that 16 Palestinians have also been killed by the Israeli military in six months.

The Ahrar Center said that dozens of women, children, elderly, legislators, intellectuals and journalists were among the kidnapped.

The center added that the arrests took place in every part of the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, in addition to 25 arrests in the Gaza Strip, including fishermen and five arrests at border terminals.

Most of the arrests have been carried out in the Hebron district, in the southern part of the West Bank. The second highest number of arrests was carried out in Jerusalem, followed by Nablus.

Ahrar said that February witnessed the largest number of arrests as the soldiers kidnapped 382 Palestinians, while 350 have been kidnapped in January, 300 in June, 263 in May, 259 in April and 236 in March.

Furthermore, Ahrar said that the army also kidnapped 33 women, including wives and relatives of political prisoners held by Israel, and that 17 of the kidnapped women are still imprisoned by Israel.

The Ahrar Center also said that 14 Palestinians, including 10 from the West Bank, and four from the Gaza Strip, have been shot and killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of this year, in addition to two Palestinian political prisoners who died in Israeli prisons.

Detainee Arafat Jaradat, 33, from Hebron, died of extreme torture by Israeli interrogators, and detainee Maisara Abu Hamdiyya, 64, died of an advanced stage of cancer resulting from the lack of medical treatment in Israeli prisons.

Four more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military fire in the Gaza Strip.

Head of the Ahrar Center, Fuad Al-khoffash, stated that the center documented daily Israeli military invasions; daily arrests and assaults, and demanded the International Community to act against the ongoing and escalating Israeli violations.

————————————————————————————–

2 martyrs, 230 arrests during June

NABLUS, (PIC)– The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 2 martyrs and arrested more than 230 Palestinians during June throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Tadamum Foundation for Human Rights revealed.

Ahmad Bitawi, a researcher at the Foundation, confirmed that 2 Palestinians were martyred during June namely: Khaled Jamal Khryosh, 27, from Tulkarm refugee camp, who died on June 11 of wounds sustained in 2004, and Mohamed al-Azraq, 27, from Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza strip of wounds sustained in 2010.

The Foundation documented more than 230 arrests throughout West Bank and the border area in the Gaza Strip including 40 children and 10 university students.

More than 70 arrests took place in al-Khalil, 45 Palestinians were arrested in Nablus, 35 arrests were documented in Jenin, while 10 Palestinians were arrested in Gaza, Bitawi explained.

Bitawi pointed out that some detainees were suffering various illnesses including Mohammed Walid Qawariq, from Nablus, whose right hand was amputated due to the explosion of a bomb and the mentally disabled prisoner Haron Ibrahim Abu Mohamed from Bethlehem.

The Foundation stated that among the detainees there were 15 liberated prisoners in addition to the MP Abdel Jaber Fuqaha.

Several arrests were carried out at Israeli military checkpoints erected throughout the West Bank cities and villages. Some other arrests were documented at the Karama border crossing between Jordan and occupied West Bank.

Israeli media sources said that the finance committee provided 50 million shekels in assistance for building 900 housing units where it will shoulder the cost of developing public infrastructure such as roads, pavements and drainage in the neighborhood.

Buyers would then enjoy a 95 percent discount in a move which would cost the ministry 100 million shekels, Maarif Hebrew newspaper said.

Last week, the municipal planning committee granted final approval for another 69 new homes in another area of Har Homa on the eve of Kerry’s arrival to the region to re-start talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

————————————————————————————–

Israeli court approves the confiscation of Palestinian house

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– The Israeli Military Appeal Committee ruled on Monday that a Palestinian house was lawfully purchased in al-Khalil by Israeli settlers, although the family denies selling them the house.

The court decision came a year and three months after their eviction from the house, Yediot Aharonot Hebrew newspaper said, pointing out that the settlers are now expecting to receive Ya’alon final approval which would allow them to move back into the house.

The house first caught public attention last April when settlers moved into it in the middle of the night claiming they legally bought the property. Several days later, after having received visits by rightist ministers and Knesset members, they were evicted on the orders of the then Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the newspaper added.

The Defense Ministry and Civil Administration claimed that the reason behind the eviction were irregularities in the purchase agreement which prevents the provision of permits by the Administration, the newspaper said.

The settlers then turned to the appeals committee which ruled in their favor.

The court ordered the State to cover the legal costs of the proceedings and criticized the Civil Administration for its handling of the issue remarking that “this conduct is not in line with what is expected of (the Administration.)”

The settlers are now expecting to receive Ya’alon’s final approval which would allow them to move back into the house.

————————————————————————————–

Jerusalem Endowment warns of a new Judaization project in the Old City

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Director of Jerusalem’s Religious Endowments (Waqf) Foundation, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, confirmed the Foundation’s refusal to deal with the Israeli Tourism General Company’s project to establish a park in the Old City in occupied Jerusalem.

The Foundation appealed against the Judaization project that aims to create new roads to facilitate settlers’ movement in the Old City.

Al-Khatib told PIC that Endowment Foundation will stand firmly against this project and will work for the protection of the Endowment properties in the Old City.

Israeli Tourism General Company has notified the traders in the Old city markets to facilitate the construction of a park above their shops.

The Lutheran Church, for its part, appealed against the project especially that it owns Endowment properties in the mentioned area.

For their part, the Palestinian traders expressed their rejection to deal with the company’s engineering teams.